No. 21 Tritons Split Doubleheader, Weekend Series at Cal State San Bernardino

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SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. - The No. 21-ranked University of California San Diego softball team split two games on Saturday en route to splitting the four-game road series this weekend against Cal State San Bernardino.

The Tritons defeated the Coyotes in Game 1 on Saturday, 6-4, before dropping Game 2 to CSUSB, 7-4. UC San Diego (25-12, 18-10) has won five of its last eight games overall, and seven of its last 10 on the road.

Despite the mixed results from the weekend, head coach Patti Gerckens wants to see more adjustments made throughout the lineup.

“We’re looking for consistency right now,” said Gerckens. “We need to find that. Our lack of consistency seems to be a reoccurring theme that hopefully we can work past.”

Freshman pitcher Robyn Wampler was dominant in the pitcher’s circle to begin the day, allowing one earned run on five hits with 10 strikeouts for the complete-game victory. It was the second-most strikeouts recorded in a game this season for Wampler (17-6).

Aguirre went 3-for-4, while Lewis finished 2-for-4 with an RBI double.

Trailing 1-0 early, the Tritons seized control of the game in the top of the fourth inning.

Senior Kelsi Maday started the four-run avalanche with a double to left, and came around to score on Aguirre’s RBI single. Brittney Ross-Smith followed with an RBI single to center and fellow sophomore Mikaila Reyes came through with an RBI single to left to make it 3-1.

A Harrington single to left scored Ross-Smith, as UC San Diego took a 4-1 lead.

Leading 5-1 in the fifth, Cal State San Bernardino (22-14, 13-13) responded with three runs in the bottom half of the frame to cut the Tritons’ lead to one. However, Harrington reached with a one-out single to right in the top of the sixth, and Lewis followed two batters later with an RBI double to center to make it 6-4.

Game 2

UC San Diego fell behind 4-0 in the first inning and its late rally fell short in the Game 2 defeat.

Lavrov finished 3-for-4 with three RBI, while Maday, Lewis and Harrington each went 2-for-4.

Cal State San Bernardino took an early lead against Triton sophomore starter Alanna Phillips behind a three-run first-inning home run by Sydney Kreimann, as UC San Diego was forced to play from behind the rest of the way.

The Tritons scored a run in the top of the second behind Ross-Smith’s leadoff double and Lavrov’s RBI single, but the Coyotes responded with one run in the third and two more in the fourth to take a commanding 7-1 advantage.

However, UC San Diego showed its resiliency with a comeback attempt in the top of the seventh behind three runs on four hits.

Lewis led off with a double to center and came around to score on Maday’s single up the middle, before Lavrov’s two-out, two-RBI single down the right-field line cut the deficit to 7-4.

UC San Diego returns home next weekend for a four-game series against Stanislaus State beginning on Friday, April 13 at 1 p.m. Gerckens will be honored prior to Game 1 on Friday for her milestone 700th victory achieved earlier this season, while the Triton seniors will be celebrated before the start of Game 1 on Saturday.